LINZ FM[Ai]R 21 –Open Call for Artist-in-Residence Entries 2021

LINZ FMR – Art in Digital Contexts and Public Spaces is a biennial festival and format for artistic processes and positions, that reflects the ephemeral nature of our digital and connected present. The ever-advancing digitalization of everyday life implies an intense overlapping and layering of familiar physical, but also finely interwoven digital spaces. LINZ FMR focuses on the shifts, distortions and rifts that arise in this process and presents current artistic positions in this context.

The festival, whose title alludes to ephemerality and short-livedness, presents works whose initial ideas can be found in virtual and/or digital space or have a strong reference to it, but are shown (sometimes in a transformed way) in the physical surroundings of the city of Linz. The focus is primarily on the interstices that arise during these transformations into public space – outside of museums, galleries or art spaces. At the same time, LINZ FMR attempts to subject the concept of sculpture to a contemporary update and to reflect on questions of transience, ephemerality and obviousness.

LINZ FMR 21 will be located on the premises and in the immediate vicinity of the Mühlkreisbahnhof, a small secondary railway station in Linz-Urfahr. The station, which is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), is the starting point of the Mühlkreisbahn, a branch line to Aigen-Schlägl, a town in the northernmost part of the province of Upper Austria near the Czech border. It is separated from the rest of the Austrian railway network and thus represents an island operation. This place combines numerous topics that are of interest both for the future development of the city as well as for the festival: #transition, #point of intersection, #interface, #mobility, #isolation, #hastiness, #transfer, #erosion. For the 2021 festival, LINZ FMR is taking up these topics among others, placing them at the centre of a contextual approach to the location and offering them for discussion from various perspectives.

To deal with all these topics more intensively, LINZ FM[Ai]R 21 invites artists or art collectives to spend one month creating a new work, or further developing an existing project. Openness to the mission of LINZ FMR as outlined above and interest and readiness to work together with the team of LINZ FMR are naturally preconditions. During the residency, LINZ FMR will provide space, resources and facilities for productive experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration. The work developed during the residency will be presented within the framework of the festival in the form of a group exhibition, performance, or another mode of presentation, and complemented by discursive formats. The artist will also be given the option to be part of an artist talk.

LINZ FMR is a joint project of the two independent Linz-based art and cultural initiatives qujOchÖ and servus.at, the Atelierhaus Salzamt of the City of Linz, the Art University of Linz and the Linz-based Sturm und Drang Gallery.

Dates
Duration: 1 month
Possible periods: February and March 2021
Application deadline: 30. August 2020, 24:00 CET
Jury decision: September 2020
Festival LINZ FMR 21: 1. – 6. June 2021

Who is eligible?

Artists of any age, sex, gender, race or nationality can apply for a one-month residency in February or March 2021 (applicants can choose one of the two options or indicate that they are available for both). The curatorial board – a panel of members of the collaborating initiatives and institutions for LINZ FMR – will review the applications and select the successful candidates in one session.
Successful candidates are expected to reside and work in Linz for one month. The work produced during the residency is expected to be shown in the exhibition in public space during LINZ FMR 21.
The one-month residencies will take place in February and March 2021, the exhibition of LINZ FMR 21 will open on 1. June 2021. For the realization of more complex works, the artists presence and support during the days before the exhibition is expected (exact timing to be negotiated).
The applicants should be able to speak English fluently and should be flexible in interacting and engaging in conversation with the local art community and the LINZ FMR team.
We encourage applications from women and artists who identify as LGBTIQ+, members of ethnic, racial, or cultural minority groups, or those from otherwise underrepresented backgrounds.

What can I expect?
The conditions you can expect which are also set in the artist agreement are:

800 Euros artist grant,
up to 1.000 Euros production budget (reimbursement based on receipts/invoices),
up to 450 Euros travel expenses (reimbursement based on receipts/invoices),
free use of a studio and
free accommodation in one of the flats of Atelierhaus Salzamt for your one month stay,
free access to your hosts facilities and various workshops of the Art University,
a professional presentation, exhibition and artist talk (optional) during the Festival LINZ FMR 21,
curatorial support during the residency.

How to apply?
In order to apply for LINZ FM[Ai]R 21 online, you first need to register at https://www.my-submission.art/fmr. Once you have completed the registration, you will be assigned a personal log-in account, through which you can access the online application form. Your application is stored online in your account, where it is available for you to edit at any time up until the deadline (after the deadline this section of the website will be closed).

In addition to personal and general information, the following details in particular are required for the submission (English or German):

short motivation for the residency (max. 200 words),
a project proposal (including (working) title, concept of the project, connection with the topic of the call, a project plan with an outlined schedule of activities during your residency, technical requirements (equipment, technical support, …),
a portfolio (including a short biography, selected projects and most recent exhibitions/activities).

Please note: each submitter may hand in only one project proposal. However, several works can/should be mentioned in the portfolio. Once the application has been finally submitted, no further changes are possible.

When do I receive the results and will you inform me about reasons of rejection?
The jury’s decision will be announced by mid-October 2020, the notification of the results will be sent in an automated e-mail. No comments on jury decisions will be provided and we kindly ask you to accept this. There might be various reasons for the final selection – if your submission is rejected, we would like to encourage you to apply again for the next issue of LINZ FMR in 2023!

Contact
LINZ FMR / Untere Donaulände 10 / A-4020 Linz
linzfmr.at / submission@linzfmr.at